Marine sentenced for conspiracy

A Gastonia man who amassed weapons, possibly to use against the government, will spend more than a year in prison.

Walter Eugene Litteral was sentenced Tuesday to 22 months in federal prison. Already behind bars for nearly a year, Litteral will be required to get mental health help while he serves out his time.

Litteral and two other Gaston County men were charged with crimes against the United States more than a year ago. Litteral was described as the leader of the trio.

What prosecutors called a conspiracy fueled by paranoia about martial law, the defense attorney said was the result of post traumatic stress disorder after time in combat.

"He had a very different idea of what was going on in the world," defense attorney John Davis said.

Regardless of possible delusions, Litteral and his cohorts, Christopher James Baker and Christopher Todd Campbell, posed a serious threat, said U.S. Attorney Michael Savage.

Arsenal of weapons

In 2015, Litteral believed the government intended to use the armed forces to impose martial law, and he planned to resist with violent force, according to court documents.

He and Campbell purchased smokeless gunpowder, dummy grenades, fuses and other material needed to manufacture explosive devices, stating that they would use them against law enforcement officers who attempted to disarm them, court documents say.

Litteral also helped Campbell reconstruct a dummy grenade to create a live grenade and told Campbell how to maximize an explosion, indictments state.

Campbell kept some of the materials on top of a safe in a house he shared with his fiancée and two children. The altered grenades could kill someone within about 16 feet, indictments state.

Litteral reportedly recruited Barker, who had access to plumbing supplies through his work, to provide him with pipe and pipe fittings needed to manufacture pipe bombs.

Litteral purchased an assault rifle for Barker, a convicted felon and addict.

Documents also stated that Litteral referred to his homemade explosives as “game changers” and planned to test them in Shelby. “It is going to be great,” Literal was quoted as saying.

In need of help

Attorneys argued for more than two hours Tuesday before the judge announced Litteral's sentence. All three of the men accepted plea offers months ago, and Litteral was the last one to be sentenced.

Litteral pleaded guilty to conspiracy, making a false statement during the attempted purchase of a firearm and aiding and abetting the possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.

Additional drug charges against him were dropped.

Davis argued that his client wasn't the ring-leader he was portrayed to be or a domestic terrorist as national media outlets have alleged.